Iuchi Kengo is a retired Japanese underground musician active between 1994 – 1999/2000), his music resonates wild, insane, sick, outsider hollering’s impregnated with haunted nightmarish visions, rural superstitions, and a twisted mental mindset. His self described “ death folk” music is incredibly bleak, not in a self-wallowing way, but a cathartic bleakness that becomes a kind of beauty, a majik, and an other. Vocals of unforgiving light work screaming, before collapsing into a blood-curdling void, subdued like a wash over drug. His gravel driven deafening spirit of a dim room staring back, lone, isolated with anger dug up from light omitting darkness. Demonic orgasms caress disembodied, rolling around on the floor, spinning in circles, as the screaming / strumming / jamming collaborators excellerate. Like a Jandek on downers Iuchi moans and screams in a pretty tuneless way over a viciously strummed acoustic guitar
Like with Jandek there is little known of Iuchi,and as a result there is a great sense of mystery. Yet there is more to Iuchi then a mystery, there is nothing, a great space of awkward silence filled with a screaming strumming volcanically manic and an apathetic nothing! An apocalyptic diary left with blank pages, and that becomes enough. Enough to fill nothing with it self and for it to stand alone where ever it ends up residing. Albums are incredibly scarce, and are becoming more so considering his retirement from music.
The two albums I have heard “Inugamito To Kachika” and “One”, a split as well as collaboration with the late M.S.B.R, are breath-taking views from a shattered window. “Inugamito To Kachika” opens with a gentle lazily strummed guitar and a gliding swooping violin - like disorientating gulls in flight, sirens glowing, heard from underwater. Iuchi’s vocals torment, and linger annihilated. What follows are further resigned belches, and scraping away with withdrawn passion, stumbling percussion on buckets (by the sounds of) and exploding symbols, other wailing voices submerged beneath Iuchi’s as he releases voices, screaming and transcending over between his breaths. Everything collapses as the scream is left with itself. Gravel eating up the strumming and messenger, trash cans rock back and forth, as beams radiate toward. Blood, Cells, Pyramids crumbling, Whales at night, Roots, Reversed Scratched Records Feeding Back. Finally a Reversed voice spat out from possessing demons, an ocean of concrete rolls into a neon light, static, pleading. Grumbling saxophone’s, broken hiss, hovering crafts, percussion drone abruptly into a fall, with a scream as abrupt as this hellish-ness had begun. Ending with Iuchi alone with acoustic guitar, blood curdled beyond belief. An incredible document.
“One” features three live duets nested between a solo studio track from each artist. During the collaborative work recorded live in ’98, M.S.B.R. lays low providing spacey electronics between the torments and catharsis Iuchi releases, almost like a backing, then Koji Tano really cuts loose whilst Iuchi erupts in a possessed hysteria. Lone extraterrestrial lights groan along with its fellow groaning guitar and voice.
Iuchi’s “track” is a montage of four piece’s taped together by a violent broken noise guitar feeding back, tremmoring before we are thrown into Iuchi’s psyche. Hellish adrenaline run screaming with scraped guitar and saxophones, then a beautifully played guitar, lamenting vocals and saxophone’s. The guitar scramble’s everything that has just been heard. Then there’s shardded guitar picking, broken percussion, sax’s reverberating and a holler, which continues to grow throughout. Heavy breathing and sleeping sweeps of instruments, subtle brief bursts of feedback, a calling out like a damaged angel trapped in a scrap yard surrounded by rusty machinery, an apocalyptic omen, and an almighty lone dignified saxophone send off. Guitar washes away as screaming sax’s and smashed percussion fall and tells the listener to forget all about it......
(i stole first bit of "one" bit from alien8 recordings write up)
Known Discography:
“Iuchi Kengo” ( Kubitsuri, LP 1994)
“Inugamito To Kachika” (Kubitsuri, SEX-004, LP 1995)
“Hanagurui No Yoru” (Shikoku Manto, Cassette1995)
“Kuon No Kane No Ne” (Vanilla Records, VANILLA-49, C’60 1995)
“Anata no kyoki no hary ga saku” (Brom Records, BMR-CD-002, CD 1997)
“Kore mo hitosu no sekai- Live 1998” (no label, VHS 1998)
w/ M.S.B.R. “One” (Alien8 Recordings, ALIENCD-9, CD 1998)
“Kore Mo Mouhitotsu No Dekai” (Shikoku Manto, VHS 1999)
V/a “Noise Progression Vol.1” (M.S.B.R. Records, MRV01, VHS 1999)
V/a “Amaterasu” (Fractal Records, Fractal021, 2xCD 2003)
Appearances:
Kawabata Makoto “Private Tapes” (Acid Mothers Temple, AMTPD-001, CDR 1999)
Kawabata Makoto “Private Tapes 3” (Acid Mothers Temple, AMTPD-013, CDR 2000)
Inugamito To Kachika can be downloaded here!
